Scope Diagram Astrocamera.Net - Astrophotography by Dave Kodama

2001 Leonid Meteor Shower
from Mt. Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii
11/17/2001
Leonid Meteors. Click on images to enlarge.

Camera setup on Kenko Sky Memo mount:

  1. 35mm format Nikon F
    with 50mm lens @ f/2
  2. 35mm format Nikon Nikomat
    with 35mm lens @ f/2.8
  3. 6x7 format Planet Town vacuum camera
    with Pentax 105mm lens @ f/2.4
Below is a plot of the rough count of meteors captured on the three cameras (#1=blue, #2=purple, #3=white on the graph). The first exposures were started shortly after midnight (HST) and continued past 5AM with a gap at about 3AM when cameras ran out of film and were being reloaded. Exposures were roughly 7 minutes in length with about a minute between exposures to advance film, recheck polar alignment, and start new exposures. A total of 32, 27, and 26 meteors were captured by each camera, respectively.


The count was done by examining the negatives with a 4x loupe. This rough survey's absolute numbers don't have any real significance, but the increase in the count towards the end of the night matches the visual impression of a small peak right after midnight with a significant increase in activity as dawn approached. The last meteor was seen only 5 minutes before sunrise with only Venus still visible in the sky.

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